Forgiveness Take-Aways
Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Colossians 3:13
“Forgiveness is not the misguided act of condoning irresponsible, hurtful behavior. Nor is it a superficial turning of the other cheek that leaves us feeling victimized and martyred. Rather it is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past.” Joan Borysenko
“Forgiveness does not validate wrongdoing.”
Don’t minimize or justify other’s wrong actions against you. Unless you face the fullness of the offense, you cannot experience the fullness of the freedom that comes to you when you forgive them. This is hard to do in traumatic or ongoing abuse cases but is possible with God.
Minimizing an offense is like whitewashing forgiveness, it just looks like forgiveness, but, when the rains of conflict arise again, it disappears.
This applies to your own hidden or known sins. You cannot excuse sin only forgive it.
To experience the full healing that God offers through forgiveness, you must fully confess the wrongdoing. Minimizing it doesn’t allow the chains to be broken, only lengthened. Hard to do? Impossible on your own, you need God’s power. The same is true of forgiving others. Speak the truth about the offense to you.
You can’t short circuit forgiveness. You can’t start at the end without going through the truth and forgiving what happened. Same for accepting forgiveness.
“You don’t have to wait until the person shows they’ve repented.”
Well, to put it bluntly, Jesus didn’t. He forgave his enemies on the cross, at the very moment they were killing him.
“Forgiveness isn’t a feeling.”
First and foremost it is a spiritual act. Jesus commands us to forgive. It is an act of faith, not feeling. Anything He commands He works, anything He asks, He does.
“The longer we carry a grudge….the more force it exerts on our life.”
As you look at your life the very thing that is probably keeping you from realizing the promise of an abundantly healthy life is unforgiveness. Either the accepting of forgiveness or the giving of forgiveness. May today you receive God’s forgiveness and immediately give it away!
Lord, make us willing to forgive by showing us Your glory and the beauty of Your love for us. As you have done unto us may we gladly do unto others that You love and gave Your life for. Amen